For Posterity's Sake A Royal Canadian Navy Historical Project
They made the Ultimate Sacrifice
BENTLEY, William James, LS, VR5672, RNCVR, MPK - 30 Oct 1918, HMCS GALIANO - son of William Henry and Ann Jane Bentley, of Dingle, Liverpool, England.
On 29 Oct 1918 the GALIANO was sent with supplies to the light house at Triangle Island off Cape Scott at the northwestern tip of Vancouver Island. A number of her regular crew were unable to make the trip due to illness as the 1918 flu pandemic had reached her base at Esquimalt. She set out towards the Queen Charlotte Islands from Triangle Island at 5 pm on Oct 29th. When she made her only distress call at 3 am the next morning, she was estimated to be within visual range of the light at Cape St. James 95 miles from Triangle Island. She was never heard from again and went down with the loss of all hands.
William Bentley is listed on the Victoria Memorial in the Ross Bay Cemetery on Vancouver Island, BC
Ships served in:
First World War Casualty Index - RCN
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